An Irreversible Flaw
by DMYN
Summary: Sometimes, the unexpected happens. Izaya tries to cope after a horrible event, will he ever be able to overcome this unforeseen trial?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Durarara! or any of its awesome characters as much as I want to ;D

**A/N: **Yes! I bring you another Shizaya XD This one's also written for the DRR! Kink Meme on LJ. Unlike my (Please Say You Love Me) fic, this one hasn't been fully planned out yet so updates might be slow unless an idea or two just hits me randomly :)

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**An Irreversible Flaw**

**CHAPTER ONE**

Shizuo pulled out another cigarette from his pack and lighted it as he walked down the empty alleyways. It was way past midnight; only the most dangerous people of the underworld frequent these areas at this time. It wasn't any concern of the blonde bartender though since no one dared approach him due to his inhuman strength that was well known all over Ikebukuro.

A loud crash accompanied by a strangled cry reached his ears all of a sudden. He paused for a moment, trying to decide whether it was important enough for him to investigate or not before heading towards the direction of the sound. He had time to kill after all.

He could hear multiple voices speaking in low tones when he reached the mouth of an alley. When he was close enough to make out the scene under the pale moonlight, he felt his heart stop for the tiniest beat.

Lying in the middle of a pile of overturned garbage was Orihara Izaya, his arch nemesis and number one person on his most hated list of people alive.

The man was surrounded by a group of people dressed with pieces of yellow clothing – There were eight of them after Shizuo had finished counting.

"You think you can claim this city as yours? Hah!" One of them kicked him in the chest. "Just because Kida left, it doesn't mean that the Yellow Scarves are over."

The others around him snickered and nodded in agreement as Izaya recoiled, hands clutching onto his face as if shielding it from something. He was oddly silent.

Shizuo's jaw tightened, one of them was holding a knife and was that drops of red on the ground where the information broker had fallen? Unable to take watching this any longer, he picked up a broken pipe from the ground and hurled it straight at the guy who had kicked Izaya, feeling a sort of satisfaction when he heard the sickening crunch of shattered bones when it hit him square in the nose.

He didn't like violence. Seriously, he just hated seeing his prey being snatched away from him, and right in front of him too.

The other gang members whipped around, eyes widening in fear at the towering figure that looked more menacing in the shadows of the building.

"H-Heiwajima Shizuo!" One yelled and backed away till his back met the deadend.

The others were a little more brave, though they still backed away when Shizuo took long, promising steps towards them, his face now illuminated by the moonlight. He looked pissed.

"You made me use violence." He growled, glaring at each of them.

They shrunk back, trembling in fear as none of them were equipped with guns or weapons of the sort.

"You made me draw blood." His voiced was laced with the promise of a very, very painful night.

A broken nose and arm were nothing compared to the pain he made them feel in the next ten minutes.

After shoving the fainted bodies into a huge garbage dump, he approached the information broker slowly. The man had not moved since he showed up, he hadn't even acknowledged the bartender at all. He merely sat there, hands still covering his face and trembled a little.

Shizuo practically had to pry the slim fingers away from their owner's face, doing a double take when he was met with a bloody sight before him. A long gash decorated the information broker's small face. A sickening feeling rose in him when he realized it was located just at the bridge of his nose, leaving a gory mess across his tightly shut eyes.

There were trails of tears pouring down Izaya's cheeks. Shizuo had never felt so lost in his life when he wiped them away.

"Izaya..?"

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I always start out with epicly short prolougues |D


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except this fic :)

**A/N: **I had fun writing this one ;) It's actually challengingly fun writing Izaya in this state :D

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**An Irreversible Flaw**

**Chapter 2**

Izaya woke to darkness, his breath hitched when he could not make out a single shape or colour. There was a piece of cloth around his eyes, had he been blindfolded? The last thing he remembered was the Yellow Scarves ambushing him and –

He gasped, bringing a hand to his eyes and realizing that the thing shielding them from view was actually a bandage.

"Are you sure?"

He could hear voices nearby, they sounded muffled.

"Yes, I've done everything I can. His nerves were damaged beyond repair." It was Shinra's voice, it seemed to be getting closer.

"So….he's going to stay like this forever?"

_Shizu-chan?_

"By 'this', if you mean blind, then yes."

He felt his heart clench. This could not be happening.

Izaya heard the sounds of footsteps now and then the clicking of a door opening. There was a slight pause when the two men saw the informant awake and sitting upright. A chair was pulled up next to him by the sounds of something heavy scraping on the floor.

"Izaya, you're awake.' Shinra attempted a smile at his side even though the doctor knew he could not see it.

Izaya swallowed thickly, the underground doctor was speaking to him in such a careful tone that it made him sick just thinking about it. "Shinra, what…" For once, he was at a lost of words, what was it that he had wanted to ask exactly?

"I'm sure you remembered what happened last night. I've given you drugs so you don't feel it." Shinra cleared his throat and started conversationally.

He nodded bluntly. Of course he remembered. How could he forget the excruciating pain that flared past his eyes when the bastard had attacked and pushed him against the pile of garbage?

"You're screwed up, flea." Shizuo said quietly to himself, his voice reaching Izaya's now sensitive ears from a secluded corner of the room.

To the men's surprise, Izaya's head snapped in the direction Shizuo was standing in and spat a bitter, "Shut up."

Shinra started jotting down a few notes, "It appears you would not be completely useless as long as you rely on your sense of hearing."

Ignoring the look Izaya seemed to shoot him, – he could read body language quite well due to years of living with Celty – he nodded to Shizuo and said, "It would take a few weeks before we can remove the bandages. The tissues are still recovering from the surgery."

Izaya clenched his fists, he didn't want to hear anymore. This whole thing was just too fucked up for him to take at the moment.

He pulled the sheets off of him in one clumsy move and swung his legs off the bed, standing up before the doctor had any time to start panicking.

"Izaya! What are you doing!" Shinra flailed, grabbing onto his friend's arm only to have his hand swiped away and pushed back violently.

"Don't touch me!" Izaya growled like a wounded animal, backing away unstably while blindly reaching out at his sides for balance. He couldn't see a thing, it felt like he was in a void where nothing existed, yet there were sounds that tormented him, telling him that it was all there, that he just couldn't see. His head spun momentarily when he stumbled around and tripped over something, crying out in panic when he lost his balance and fell forwards.

"Izaya!" Shinra sprang forwards to stop his friend from hitting the ground. However, the bartender was beside the informant like a bullet train, beating Shinra to it and wrapping a strong arm around his waist to catch him.

The board chest against his back was enough to make him stiffen in surprise as a hand helped him to straighten himself and regain his balance.

"You idiot, don't get up just yet." Shizuo's said against his ear. He dragged the smaller man back to the bed and forced him down on it, twitching an eyebrow when Izaya bared his teeth at him irritably.

"Stop being such a child, Izaya." Shinra reprimanded him. "You should be grateful Shizuo didn't leave you there to get killed."

Izaya tch-ed.

"We all know what you're capable off, but you'll be needing help to adjust from now onwards unless you'd rather be left out on the streets alone." He gave a bag containing various medications in it to Shizuo, smiling sheepishly at the questioning look he received.

"I don't want to force my dear Celty to keep you in check. That's why, starting from tomorrow, you'll be moving in with Shizuo here in Ikebukuro."

"….What?" They were both ready to strangle the poor doctor.

"Just remember to bring him over every week so I can change the dressing!"

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Izaya nearly bumped into a wall for the third time, stopped only at the last second by Shizuo who was scowling throughout the whole trip back to his apartment. The informant had refused to be held and insisted that he trailed behind by following Shizuo's footsteps. He was doing quite well since Shizuo had led him through a secluded path that wasn't littered with stones or random objects. That is, until Shizuo started rounding corners rapidly, causing him to midjudge the distances and head straight into it.

The blonde had purposely chosen this route to avoid the public. If word were to get out that the informant was now vulnerable, he would be assaulted from every corner by those that held a grudge against him – that was a lot of people.

Shizuo grabbed his wrist and pulled him forwards, tired of having to keep saving him.

"We're going up a staircase now. My apartment's on the third floor." He warned.

Before they even took the first step up, Izaya wrenched his hand away and hissed at the other man, "I can do it myself."

Shizuo raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Suit yourself." He said, walking up.

Despite not being able to see, he groped around blindly until he secured a grip on the railing and took a tentative step up, and another, and the another, gripping onto the railings like a lifeline. Under better conditions, he could probably run up the steps with his eyes closed. The knowledge of having lost his sight permanently was enough to put out that confidence for good.

It took him a good five minutes to reach the third floor with all the pausing he did on the way. Shizuo was already smoking a cigarette at the corridor, ready to act in case he heard a crash and a yelp. Shinra would never let him rest if he had allowed the informant to break a bone or two, as much as he wanted to.

He studied the blind man for a few seconds, narrowing his eyes at the trembling hands that were still gripping onto the railing. Tearing his gaze away, he took pointedly loud steps towards his apartment door, holding it open for Izaya who trailed after him like a lost puppy.

The informant stopped at the entrance where he heard Shizuo shift beside him.

"Just so you know, I still hate you." He said, walking in right after.

Shizuo chuckled darkly as he shut the door.

"And I you."

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Hope you enjoyed it so far ;) To those who haven't read this on the Kink meme yet, that is XD


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I'd love to own Durarara! and these darling characters but unfortunately, I don't ;(

**A/N: **Thanks for the lovely reviews :3 Yes, I have to admit that I love reading/writing about Izaya in pain especially when Shizuo is the cause of it |D -is a sadist-

Had this typed out awhile ago, but I wasn't very satisfied with it and was reluctant to upload it. Hopefully you would think otherwise :)

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**An Irreversible Flaw**

**Chapter 3**

Shizuo guided Izaya to his couch so he wouldn't trip over anything while walking blindly around, much to Izaya's distaste. He didn't like being lead around so pathetically like this. It just hurt his pride way too greatly.

"Sit."

The smaller man huffed and shifted around until he was comfortable. "What am I supposed to do here?"

Shizuo shrugged. "Sit, sleep, stay silent, don't bother me. Choose any or just do it all."

He would've rolled his eyes at that if he could. "Don't you have any board games around?"

"No. Why would you even need any?"

Izaya grinned, "You could help me move the pieces while I give you the directions."

The blond scowled, "Forget it, just stay here while I take a shower. _Don't _get up. I don't want you to break anything."

He walked off towards the bathroom, glancing backwards every now and then to make sure the informant stayed put. He gave the informant one last hard stare before gathering the courage to enter the bathroom. He didn't trust that man at all and having him in his apartment unguarded, regardless of whether he could see or not, was not very appealing to him.

In the living room, Izaya stared out at practically nothing. This vulnerable feeling was just so alien to him. He felt his heart clenched a little when he realized that he didn't even know what Shizuo's apartment looked like. He had never made a point to visit, he wasn't stupid enough to. The air in the room hinted at tobacco, it was even a little breezy.

He made a face when the sound of a tap was turned out, accompanied by the rushing of water. "So he expects me to just do nothing?"

Izaya waited a few more minutes, frustration growing at the ticking of the clock on the wall. He wasn't used to sitting down and doing just _nothing._

It was maddening, especially when he just couldn't fucking see.

"Shizu-chan can dream on if he wants me to act like a vegetable."

He started to get up with one hand pressed onto the couch for support. He stuck a foot out as far as he could and began to shift it around, feeling for any obstacle in his path before moving forwards with all the confidence he could muster.

"Might be able to find a phone…call Kida…" He muttered to himself as he continued his slow path randomly, forcing himself to turn when his outstretched hand came in contact with a wall.

A sudden pang of pain at his head made him lose his focus and tripped over what happened to be a mini stool. Gasping harshly, he stumbled and stretched out his arms to grab onto the first thing he could – a cabinet. He managed to regain his balance at a price. The cabinet was jarred so forcefully that something on it toppled over and landed onto the floor with the sound of broken glass.

As if on cue, the bathroom door slid open and out came Shizuo with only his pants on, beads of water still remaining on his torso from the shower. The blonde took a full minute to study the situation, from Izaya's tensed position, hands clutching onto the cabinet, to the remains of the little trinket his brother had given him when they were younger.

The silence between them was like the calm before the storm.

"IZAYA! YOU FUCKING FLEA I TOLD YOU TO _SIT_!"

Shizuo stomped over to sweep up the broken pieces of glass into his palm, not even considering the fact that it may cut him.

Izaya remained silent.

"You just couldn't fucking _listen, _could you!" Anger was an understatement to what was fueling him at this very moment.

He glared at the smaller man, wanting so badly to hit him right about now. "This was from my brother." He said through gritted teeth.

"Oh?" Izaya didn't give a damn, he lost his _sight _and the damn bartender was fussing over a broken _object_?

The sides of his lips curled up the tiniest bit as he leaned back against the wall, finally letting go of the cabinet.

Shizuo fumed and gave the spot on the wall beside Izaya a hard punch, just inches away from the informant's actual head while imagining it to be so. The man didn't even flinch at the obvious crack beside his ear but merely continued to smile at the blonde.

"This is what happens when you don't keep some form of entertainment in your apartment for the blind, Shizu-chan."

A vein popped. This was too much. Being forced to babysit Izaya was already testing his patience. This, was just making him pissed.

"Do you have a death wish, flea?" He clutched the precious remains of the trinket tightly, feeling them digging into his palm as he did. "You should never have come here."

"Look, I didn't ask to be here, Shizu-chan. You were the one who let Shinra convince you into saying yes."

"I agreed to it because Shinra was right! Where else would you go if I hadn't said yes? You're so crippled you'd be dead on your own." Shizuo spat out venomously. "I'm starting to seriously regret it though, you're worst than a child."

The smile vanished from the informant's face immediately.

"A _child _you say? _You _don't know what it's like to not be able to see, to be forced to live with someone who could kill you at any given time." Izaya fought back, he would not back down at being downgraded by this particular human.

Shizuo growled, grabbing a slender wrist to pin it beside its owner's head against the wall as he leaned in dangerously close. Close enough for Izaya to feel the warm breath on his face.

"The thought certainly did cross my mind, and it's especially tempting right now."

The man was seriously getting onto his nerves, adding to the destruction of his brother's gift, he was ready to break a couple of bones now. Shinra could go to hell.

Izaya opened his mouth to retort, a sharp cry leaving his lips when the same pain hit him again, this time in a much greater wave. His free hand flew up to his bandaged wound and he had to stop himself from clawing at it in a attempt to rid himself of the growing pain.

"Ughhh..."

Shizuo stared down at him, eyes widening a little in surprise when he realized that the drugs must be wearing off.

Izaya was gasping in pain now. He slid down to the floor in a pitiful heap when Shizuo released his other wrist.

"Hurts…Shizu-chan.."

Shizuo scowled and tore his eyes away from the man. He moved to grab a shirt lying on the table and buttoned up fast before slipping his customary bartender vest on.

"It serves you right. The painkillers Shinra gave are on the dinning table. You wanted to walk didn't you? Go find it yourself." He had to force the words out, feeling a little guilt the moment they left his lips.

Izaya merely flinched from another wave of pain. It was so intense that he couldn't do anything else but grit his teeth and pant harshly. It felt like his eyes were getting slashed at again and again, mercilessly and cruelly.

"I'm going out to work now. Break something else and I'll kill you for sure." He threatened, turning away and leaving his apartment with a bang on the door.

Izaya groaned when he was left in silence, his heart was hammering rapidly against his ribcage from the onslaught of pain.

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Shizuo can be a scary person to live with ;A;


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: It's been more than a month D; And I still don't own them!

**A/N**: I'M BACK! I apologize for the sudden disappearance but I did leave a sort of note in my other fic ;w; -was too lazy to write one for each story- Yeah, trials ended at last ;w; But, the real exam's coming up pretty soon OTL I'm gonna update as much as possible before I get forced to go on another study-only month. My brain died halfway while writing BIAOF so I decided to update this one first.

Again, if you read the note I left, I'm working on the Shizaya fanart! XD I just downloaded SAI and am having a blast experimenting different ways of colouring.

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**An Irreversible Flaw**

**CHAPTER FOUR  
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Izaya counted to ten, hoping that the pain would dissipate. He was sure he had been through worst with all the bones he had fractured from his frequent games of cat and mouse with Shizuo. Even so, coupled with the knowledge that he would never see again, this pain seemed to double in intensity.

It hurt, it hurt like hell.

He let out a bitter, ragged laugh, reaching out again to navigate himself back to the living room. Shizuo seemed like the type that would never have company for meals; the dining table was sure to be compact and located near the kitchen. Being the informant that he was, he already knew the rough plan of this apartment, having once studied the blueprints of the whole apartment building in case he was to pay Shizuo a visit.

A few more steps to the right brought him to the living room where the couch met his searching fingers. He gritted his teeth when yet another wave of pain struck him. He had to keep a firm grip on the soft head of the couch to keep his knees from buckling.

"Ha…" Izaya panted harshly, trying to focus as much as he could. He just had to find the table…

"Fuck this…" He was sure uncharacteristic tears would have seeped out against his will by now if his disfigured eyes were not bandaged.

He would _not_ lose to Shizuo and giving up now would just spell total defeat. And so he moved onwards, subconsciously memorizing each step he took in case he had to backtrack. This felt so much like sneaking into enemy territory blindfolded that he had to suppress a small smirk playing at the edges of his lips.

Reaching out, he let out a shaky breath of relief when he found the edge of what he assumed was the dining table at last. He shifted closer to it, fingers darting around the smooth surface of it in search for the pain killers. With any luck, Shizuo would not have placed any other bottles on the table. Finding it would not be a problem, but distinguishing it from other bottles by mere touch would be nearly impossible.

A sudden, searing pain across his wandering hand made him hiss in surprised. He retracted it immediately and was surprised to feel it steadily being covered in thick, sticky liquid. A quick sniff at it told him that it was blood.

"What…?"

There was a sudden shift of air when something pounced off the table, knocking a few items off the edge as it did. Izaya heard a loud hiss that suspiciously sounded like a cat's soon after. Sure enough, the creature started meowing loud and threateningly between hisses.

This was bad, Cats had claws and teeth and were dangerous if they really had the intent to attack, especially when his defenses were this low. He never knew Shizuo was a cat person. Perhaps he really _should _have broken into his apartment when he still had his sight.

Animals were more of Shizuo's thing than his but he took an automatic step back, trying to calm the raging fluff ball.

"Easy now…" he said, keeping his hands down so to appear less threatening. The last thing he wanted to do was to provoke the cat even further.

It tilted its head to the side as if considering whether to let Izaya off the hook or not when it remembered that its owner absolutely hated having uninvited visitors over, this man looked just like one, and so it pounced once again with its claws raised dangerously high. Izaya moved to dodge just a second too late, a hiss leaving his lips when the sharp claws dug into his chest, tearing away at the navy blue cloth to mar his pale white flesh.

Izaya stumbled and crashed down onto the floor with the animal still clinging onto him. He winced when its claws were ripped out of his wound and raised again to swipe at his face, leaving angry red lines on his right cheek that were starting to bleed.

He grabbed whatever part of the cat he could and yanked it off of him as hard as he could. The poor creature flailed hard, delivering more cuts all over Izaya's face and neck before it got thrown into a wall with a strangled yelp and stalked away into another room.

The momentary distraction had took his mind off the throbbing at the bridge of his nose. Now that the cat was gone, his sensory cells went on an overload of pain. He gritted his teeth as he curled up into a ball, wishing for once in his life to go to sleep and never wake from this nightmare.

"So this is what they meant by karma..." He shielded his face with his arms as a human instinct to block everything out.

There was a click accompanied by the creak of a door opening. Shizuo was back with a sour look plastered on his face, a plastic bag in hand.

"Tadaima." He said grumpily, tossing his shoes to the side before fully entering.

A glance around his apartment told him that something was wrong; he saw no sign of Izaya. Great, the flea had decided to take a tour of his apart. He moved over to the kitchen, wanting to leave the food on the counter when he noticed something peeking out from behind the dining table.

In a flash, he was by the informant's side, hands working fast to examine the many wounds on the man's pale body. Glancing around, he found small white pills scattered about on the floor along with various small items.

"This is…"

"Shizu-chan?" Izaya's tired voice brought Shizuo's attention back down to the man beneath him.

"Wait." Shizuo said, moving away. He returned a few minutes later with a roll of bandages and a cup of water in his hands.

Shizuo had never bandaged anything in his life before; All his personal wounds had either been neglected or treated by Shinra. Nevertheless, he managed to cover every inch of reddened skin with the soft cotton. Once that was down, he picked up two pills from the half empty bottle labeled "For Izaya – Pain" and made the flea swallow them rather forcibly.

Once the smaller man had stopped shaking so badly, Shizuo lifted him up bridal style without even thinking about how awkward it was and headed for the couch.

"Care to tell me what happened?" He said after propping Izaya up against the soft pillows. His anger from earlier had evaporated, being replaced with something he couldn't really place a finger on.

Izaya hugged a smaller pillow closer against his chest as he felt the pain fade bit by bit, nuzzling the back of it quietly while he debated over answering or just completely ignoring the blonde.

"You didn't tell me you had a stupid cat." Izaya muttered finally, bitterness etched into his tone.

"Oh." Shizuo frowned and gave his temples a squeeze. "Kanra-chan."

Izaya turned to give the man a wide eyed stare just a little too fast, causing him to groan when his head protested with a sharp throb.

"You called the monster Kanra?"

"What's wrong with the name?" Shizuo asked, catching the tone. "And she's not a monster. She just doesn't like you."

"….Nothing." He started to feel lightheaded, probably from the after effects of the painkillers.

"I'm sorry about the gift your brother gave you, Shizu-chan."

He didn't know what made him apologize. Perhaps it was the weird haze steadily clouding his min but his voice was soft and sounded so sincere it made Shizuo feel a tinge of guilt.

"It –"

But the informant was already asleep with an arm loosely draped around the pillow he was holding.

He looked so utterly fragile covered in all those bandaged that Shizuo almost found it hard to believe that this was the same man who had managed to push his danger buttons one time too many in the past.

Sighing deeply, Shizuo got up to fetch a blanket from his bedroom. For once, he ignored the attention seeking meow that called out to him from underneath his pillow. Kanra should have known better than to attack Izaya. But then again, the two had not been introduced before.

Turning a blind eye to the nuzzling against his fingers as he gathered the thick blanket, he returned back to Izaya's side and gentle covered the sleeping figure with the fabric.

"Good night, Izaya."

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My body's all sore atm from the 12 hour con I just attended D; -was cosplaying Kida-

Anyways, I wonder what's gonna happen from now onwards ;) I tried to make it long, I really did, but I think I'm those type of authors who **just can't **write super long fics ;_; -emo-


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Here's chapter 5! C: Hopefully it isn't too much of a drag. I'll be updating in the kink meme soon enough. I lost the link to the prompt and yeah OTL -slaps self- Will go hunt for it asap~

I tried to keep Izaya and Shizuo as IC as I could but they sorta ran out a little halfway through =3= I think.

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**An Irreversible Flaw**

**Chapter 5**

Izaya stretched lazily on the mattress that Shizuo had oh-so-kindly flung at him; he had made sure to miss of course. A week and a half, that was exactly 11 days, 264 hours, 15840 minutes, whatever, that he had spent in Shizuo's apartment. He didn't _dare _imagine the amount of miss calls and text messages his phone had to endure receiving during these 11 days of hell. All he had to do was press the "listen" button on his state of the art phone for the machine to voice out the messages, but he really was not in the mood to deal with anyone's business at the moment.

He allowed his fingers to lightly graze the surface of the bandages covering his disfigured eyes and was pleased to feel the absence of the stabbing pain that had been tormenting him over and over before; he was healing fast.

Izaya still had not fully gotten used to seeing nothing but the occasional shadows when something passed before him. In his dreams, he would find himself prowling the streets of Tokyo with his ever-habitual grin stretched across his face. In those dreams, he could _see_. He could see Shizuo tailing him and then losing him completely once he rounded a certain hidden corner. He could see himself reflected on a broken piece of mirror on the ground, eyes bright and full of mischief.

But then he'd wake up to the feel of the blanket beneath his fingers, and an overwhelming sense of lost and frustration threatening to turn him insane.

"How are you feeling?" Shizuo's voice broke him out of his train of thoughts.

Shinra had forced the blonde into reporting back every now and then to make sure that Izaya was still alive.

"Nnn." He didn't feel like talking just yet.

"It's a Sunday and I don't have work."

"Ah."

He wanted to go back to sleep. He only felt alive in his dreams and at this rate, he didn't really mind dreaming forever.

"Do you want to go out?"

"What?"

Had he just misheard the blonde?

Shizuo clicked his tongue impatiently. "I'm going for a walk, and I'll be heading over to Simon's store for a bite in the afternoon. I figured you'd want to get out for a bit."

"Still can't shrug off that guilt over leaving me alone with your mad cat last week, can you?" Izaya smirked, he could read Shizuo so perfectly well.

The blonde twitched. "I'm only asking so I don't have to come back and find you bleeding all over again. You'd make a mess on my furniture."

Shizuo had never left Izaya alone ever since. He kept forcing Shinra to babysit the informant whenever he had an important work to finish up for Tom. Kanra had also been kept far away from Izaya since the female cat still held a grudge on him for throwing her against the wall so hard before.

"Tch, how romantic." He was being sarcastic. "But sure, I need to run into one of those Mafia people so they could take advantage of my situation and run me through with a knife."

Shizuo grinded his teeth against each other to stop from kicking the informant who was _still _spread out on the mattress.

"I doubt anyone would dare come near you," He started awkwardly "Especially since I'd be there."

Izaya tilted his head in Shizuo's direction, his smirk stretching even further until Shizuo had to wonder how that was even possible. "Oh. So you're offering to _protect _me."

"Just shut up and get up. Unless, you'd prefer to stay here with Kanra-chan."

"Hah, I can take that bitch on any time."

But he followed Shizuo out of the apartment all the same, hands firmly concealed within the confines of the pocket of his fur jacket. Autumn was nearing an end and the temperature was dropping at a rate that didn't suit Izaya's taste.

Why Shizuo would even want to take a stroll when it was this cold was beyond Izaya's comprehension. All he knew was that he _needed_ to get out. After being handicapped and cooped up in your enemy's territory for so long, one could only think of freedom.

"Quit walking so fast, Shizu-chaan." Izaya whined after catching up to his side. "It's getting crowded and I can't hear you that well."

Izaya knew that they were being watched by the public like some exotic species put on display. _Everyone_ knew that something had happened to him due to his sudden disappearance, but no one knew exactly what that something was. Even with his borrowed sunglasses from Shizuo, he was sure that some would've guessed at his condition with the way that he kept narrowly missing people before getting pulled out of the way by the blonde man.

He would never admit it, but being out in the open _was_ a little terrifying now that the only thing, or rather, _person_ that he could rely on was Shizuo. If the man were to just decide to up and leave him, he'd probably appear on the front page of the newspapers the next morning – dead.

Shizuo was just about to retort back but he held his tongue, deciding to keep the arguments for when they were in a less crowded street. He slowed down but continued to keep a little distance between the informant and himself. He despised being stared at like this and knew that the flea was the main cause of it – People expected them to be trying to kill each other while causing havoc all over, not sticking close to each other and looking so friendly.

"Why did you even bring him out on to the streets!"

Shizuo could almost hear Shinra screaming at him like the good old friend he was.

Izaya bumped into his back with a small "Oof" when he stopped to think of a reply for his imaginary Shinra. He noticed how the flea tensed up at the thought of walking into a random stranger and then relaxed when he caught a sniff of that scent of tobacco that always seemed to linger around himself.

"Why did you stop?" Izaya asked.

Shizuo pondered over his question for a few seconds before grabbing onto his shoulders with a little more force than necessary.

"You're fine with being out here, right?"

Izaya tilted his head to the side at the serious tone Shizuo was using. "Well, I certainly didn't imagine you would bring me to the heart of the city but yes, I'm fine with it."

Shizuo exhaled deeply, "Good."

"You seriously didn't think that not being able to see would turn me into a _chicken _now, did you?"

"I just don't want to have Celty biting my head off later on."

Izaya snorted and waved a hand in front of what he assumed to be Shizuo's face. "Sure sure, that's what you say."

Shizuo raised an eyebrow. "What are you implying?"

"You're worried about me, aren't you?" The informant grinned, resting both his hands on either side of his hips.

Worried? Where the _hell _did he pluck that from?

"Fuck you." He grumbled, turning towards the direction of the shop that had a "Russian Sushi" signboard hung outside.

Before he could take a step, he felt a small tug on his right sleeve.

"Shizu-chan…too much noise." Izaya muttered quietly beside him. He appeared to be staring at his shoes to anyone who glanced over.

Izaya felt stupid and weak. He was half expecting the blonde to wrench his arm away and just walk off but instead, he felt a rough hand placed gently over his, giving his own a small squeeze.

"Shizu-chan?" the name left his lips in confusion.

"I'll guide you, as long as you promise to keep your protests to yourself." He looked away from the smaller man, forgetting for a second that he was blind. "I can't stand noisy people."

Izaya chuckled despite himself and released his hold on the man's sleeve, a sense of awkwardness clouding his mind when Shizuo's hand did not fall back; instead it followed his with a stronger grip on his wrist.

"You'd have to pay me to keep quiet but I'll let you off for today because I'm _nice." _

"Hmmph. We're having lunch now." Shizuo started, giving Izaya's thin wrist a tug as he took a step forwards.

The informant stumbled slightly in surprise at actually being led but found his rhythm soon enough. He pulled his jacket tighter around himself with his free hand, knowing that they were probably stopping others in their tracks with the little "PDA" they were showing.

"Shizu-chaaaaan, I think-"

"Think of this as a 'sorry', on Kanra's behalf as well." Shizuo kept his eyes firmly glued to the sushi store as he walked.

Izaya couldn't hold back a smug smirk at that. So Shizuo could be a softie when he wanted to be. Interesting.

They were silent after that, with Izaya keeping his head low as he was pulled along by the taller man and with Shizuo glaring daggers at whoever that was staring at them openly. They made it to the sushi store shortly, both feeling more relieved than ever when Shizuo finally allowed Izaya's hand to fall limply back to his side.

Simon was the first to break the silence. "Welcome to Russian Sushi! Dining in?" He gave the two a huge smile, never once letting whatever reaction he might have to their "togetherness" show on his face.

Shizuo nodded curtly, "Yeah. The usual for me."

Simon glanced over at Izaya and understood his condition immediately. "Otoro for Izaya, yes?"

"Mmm." Izaya kept his hands in his pockets again, suddenly very conscious of the cold. "The usual for me as well, Simon."

The Russian man studied him closely for a moment before he placed a hand on the informant's shoulder, smiling when the man tensed as he did so.

"It's okay." He spoke in his mother tongue.

Izaya gripped the hand on his shoulder with a surprising amount of strength but said nothing.

"It's okay." Simon repeated, a smile still grazing his face.

Shizuo stared at the two for a short while before looking off into the sky which was beginning to darken; an approaching rainfall maybe? Watching over the flea was troublesome and annoying but perhaps by some miniscule chance, everything would _indeed_ be okay.

* * *

**20/09/10**, that's when I won't be able to come online anymore until December :C As mentioned in my other fic, I'll be placed under a strict study-lock-up for 2 months OTL Will try to get a friend of mine to help me with the updates if she's able to get online.

Thanks for supporting me so far guys! I shall miss coming on here myself ;A;


	6. Chapter 6

**An Irreversible Flaw**

**CHAPTER SIX**

"Ow, not so rough damn it."

Shizuo raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He considerately slowed down and unwrapped the bandages with a gentler touch to Izaya's unvoiced gratitude.

"Sorry." He muttered as his hand went one last round around Izaya's head.

He stepped back and watched as the soft bandages pool around the informant's thighs and released the breath he hadn't even realized he was holding up till now.

It wasn't worse than he had expected; he hadn't known what to expect in the first place. However, seeing the vulnerable skin being pulled together by those stitches caused him to frown hard – He wouldn't be opening those eyes any time soon.

"So?"

Izaya's voice cut through his train of thoughts like the slice of a sharp blade.

"Does the satisfaction of seeing me this helpless render you speechless?"

Shizuo tore his eyes away from the informant's face almost immediately. "No, not really. Just...we should get you some shades. You can't keep wearing mine out all the time."

"Haha, why don't you pick me a pair then?" Izaya crossed his legs and leaned back against his hands while facing what he assumed was the blonde's face from where he sat on the bed.

A few inches higher and he'd be spot on.

"We could go to a store tomorrow if you'd like."

The informant smirked and promptly fell back against the soft blankets as if he hadn't a care in the world. "That's unusually nice of you, Shizu-chan. Then again, you've been unusually nice for some time, huh?" he commented, lazily tracing a finger over the stitches and wincing when he applied just a little too much pressure.

Shizuo shook his head even though he knew he could not see the action.

"I've got my hands full babysitting you already, I don't want to end up sending you to Shinra's any more than necessary."

Taking Izaya's silence as a dismissal, he turned his back to the figure on the bed and headed for the kitchen. "I'll make breakfast."

"Shizu-chan, wait."

"Yeah?"

There was that awkward pause, just that slight moment of hesitation.

"Thanks for everything up till now. Though, it doesn't make me think any better of you or anything."

And although he just _knew _that the other couldn't see it, or rather, _because _he knew, Shizuo smiled, just a slight upward curve at the edges of his lips, but one nonetheless.

* * *

"How's the sandwich?" Shizuo asked after finishing his burger.

Izaya shrugged and licked a dab of mayonnaise off his bottom lip after a particularly large bite of the salmon stuffed bread. "So-so. I'd prefer otoro over this anytime."

He snorted but continued to watch his _enemy_ as he ate. "Not all of us are as rich as you are, flea."

Izaya merely brushed it off and continued to nibble at his meal.

"This kinda feels like a date, huh?"

Okay, Shizuo knew the man could be straightforward when he wanted to be, but he couldn't help the sudden rush of heat to his face as he tore his gaze, yet once again, away from the informant's small face which now seemed even smaller under those huge sunglasses that were necessary to cover up his eyes.

"W-what the hell do you mean by that?" Shizuo, now an interesting shade of scarlet, had to struggle to keep his voice down.

"What are you getting so worked up for, Shizu-chan?" Izaya smirked directly at him, propping his chin up lazily on one hand. "It was just an innocent comment~"

The blonde swallowed. It was times like these, when Izaya somehow seemed to know how where his eyes were, when he would _look _at him without actually looking, that made him nervous. "You should kid about things like that…"

This caused the smaller man to chuckle lightly, "I wasn't kidding. Or could it be, that Shizu-chan is actually falling for me?"

It wasn't really hard to miss that expression of triumph on his face.

"Shut up!"

Heads really did turn when laughter escaped the informant's lips, followed by a string of curses from the other.

* * *

"You never did say anything about it, you know." Izaya started as he hugged his knees closer to himself on the park bench.

Shizuo, who was sitting a good two feet away from him frowned and snapped back, "What?" He obviously hadn't gotten over the informant's words in the café earlier.

Slender fingers reached up to nudge the shades down the bridge of his nose, just a bit. It was enough to give Shizuo a glimpse of those ugly stitches.

"This." He said simply.

"What about it?"

"Don't you find it disgusting? Ugly? Anything?" He continued to press.

"What? No- why would you even want to ask?"

"Because your silence makes me curious, Shizu-chan. I want to know more of what goes on in that puny brain of yours."

"…"

"Cat got your tongue?"

Shizuo tsked and stared out the window. There, in the middle of the square was that overly huge, seemingly misplaced, piece of structure of the letters L.O.V.E.

He swallowed hard and tore his eyes off it in an instant.

"Well." He started awkwardly. "It looks horrible, but you totally deserve it."

And surprisingly, Izaya went silent for long enough to make start making him feel bad. But then he looked up, and, catching Shizuo off guard, smiled and said something that made him blink like an idiot.

"You're a terrible liar, Shizu-chan."

Really, he didn't need to ask to know what was going through that puny brain of his at that very moment.

"For one, you have that defensive tone when you lie, and you won't look at me."

"How did you-?"

Izaya grinned. "You just confirmed it."

Shizuo felt like slapping himself.

* * *

"I don't think I'd mind staying here for a few more weeks, months even!"

The bartender twitched. "You're going back to _your _apartment the moment Shinra says you're free to go."

"_Penthouse_, you mean." Izaya corrected him. "And I don't really want to entertain the thought of going through my mails after taking such a looooong vacation."

The informant was now sprawled on the couch, a packet of chips in his hands and half listening to the news on the television.

"Don't you want to go back to tormenting your customers? I bet you could _live off _monopolizing them for your own entertainment."

"I do, actually." He answered both the questions with that. "You should just see the millions rolling in every so often." _Munch._"But there's not much I can do in this condition, unfortunately. I'll have to figure out a new system to continue my work with."

Shizuo took up the control to flip through the channels, ignoring the look that Izaya shot him.

"So you're really going to keep doing that? You do know they might come after you again, and not just the Yellow Scarves this time."

Now _that _made Izaya laugh.

"I've been stabbed twice in my life, and hunted down by men with guns all my life. You think this little incident is going to keep me tied down?"

"Well, you said that so I just assumed…"

"What? The part about not wanting to check my mails? Sure it'll be a _pain _to go through the thousands, especially with that bitch having to read out every single thing to me, but it's nothing compared to quitting."

Shizuo sighed.

"You really are something."

He snatched the chips away from the other man as easily as he would from a kid and, before a bit could be taken, was tackled down almost at once with only an annoyed "Oi!" warning him beforehand.

Perhaps it was because he was _tired _from everything they had done for the day. Or maybe it was just frustration, or irritation?

He wasn't sure what made him do it. Wasn't sure why he placed a hand on the side of Izaya's face, wasn't sure why he leaned up to get _closer_ to him – just close enough to touch their lips together.

Izaya looked just as confused as he was.

Of course, he never expected to feel the slight pressure against his lips when the informant decided to return it (or _push_ away(?)) just before he broke it and got up.

Clearing his throat, Izaya excused himself to the bathroom and left him there to stare wide eyed at the ceiling, still unable to get over what he had just done.

* * *

**A/N:**

-hides behind a rock- I'm back(?) **QAQ**  
AND I SWEAR I DID NOT KNOW IT WOULD TAKE THIS LONG TO UPDATE. I just really got caught up in other fandoms and well, life. Ima uni student now!~

I've _still _been receiving alerts and the occasional reviews from time to time and just seeing them made me feel really really bad, really :C But I just couldn't update any faster. Sorry bout that~ I hope this little almost-filler doesn't bore you too much since I'm still trying to piece up the middle part of the plot for this particular fic (and trying to get back into their characters) as I've already came up with the ending.


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